We often use the word labor to refer to a variety of activities. We say “Forced labor” to indicate slavery-like exploitation of people, while “labor of love” indicates acts of kindness done out of a good heart. Child labor is akin to child abuse. Ironically “labor day” is a holiday while “normal labor” means the delivery of babies. You can imagine the dilemma I found myself in as I strove to choose a title for my new exhibition about work. After much pondering I decided to name it “normal labor” since I want to stress the fact that everyday work should be a way of life. Hard and painful as it is, it is meant to be a physiological activity just like normal labor; childbirth in this context.

About the Artist

Farid Fadel was born on October 7 in 1958, in Assiut into a family that appreciates science and the arts.
Fadel was lucky enough to inherit the three talents that his family is famous for. Not only is he an award-winning artist, but he is also a practicing eye doctor and an esteemed, dedicated musician, a true Renaissance man. He graduated from the Faculty of Medicine specializing in Ophthalmology, he also studied violin for 10 years at the Cairo Conservatoire. His particular brand of Naturalism condenses the emotional charge to a great effect immediately felt by the audience. He has written 4 books, the last of which is about his journey into the world of Leonardo da Vinci.